The Remains of a Jewish Soldier Who Died in the Attack on Pearl Harbor Were Identified

The remains of a Jewish soldier who died in the bombing of Pearl Harbor have been identified .

Charles M. Stern Jr. , of Albany, New York, was an ensign who enlisted in the United States Navy on August 1, 1940. He was 26 years old when he died in the USS Oklahoma on December 7, 1941 , one of the 429 crew members who were killed during the Japanese attack on the vessel.

Stern was buried with the remains of other unidentified soldiers of the attack in a mass grave at the Pacific National Memorial Cemetery in Hawaii.

In 2015, the POW / MIA Defense Accounting Agency exhumed the unidentified remains of Oklahoma and used more sophisticated DNA tests to identify the remains of the dead. The agency announced on Tuesday that Stern’s remains were identified.

His nephew and namesake, Charles M. Stern III , told the New York television station News10 that Stern will be buried on land with his parents , as the family originally intended.

In 1943, Albany Veterans Post 105 and the Jewish Welfare Board dedicated a banner of service at the Albany JCC representing 550 Jewish men killed in service. The book ” The Jewish Veteran ” pointed out that one of the golden stars on the flag represented Stern, the first Albany man to be killed in action.